Stair-gage.



I N5.85s,431. PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.;

. w H WIEGMANN 9 sum GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 13 1907 mw wm WITNESSES:

' THE uomzls nsrsns ca, vynsnmcwn, n. It. 7

' UNITED STATES- PATENT orrron.

WILLIAM H. WIEGMANN, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

STAIR-GAGE.

' county of Allen, in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Stair-Gages;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,' which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in stair gages, 7

especially designed and adapted for stair construction.

It is well known that in stair construction the opposite ends of the tread and the riser of each step are fitted into intersecting right angular grooves in the inner adjacent face of the opposite parallel stringers, and tightly wedged therein without nailing; that these recesses must be Wedge shaped, and the recess for the tread must be of a different width than the recess for. the riser. It is also well known that the usual way of laying out such stair work is to employ either a common square or a pitchboard and two wedge-shaped pieces of proper width to outline the recesses for the tread and riser respectively for each step; and that by this method great care and considerable skill is required to secure the necessary accuracy and uniformity, as a deranging mistake is easily made.

Theobject, therefore, of my present invention is to provide a comparatively cheap, simple, convenient and easily operated adjustable, gage for stair construction, adapted to secure absolute-uniformity without the employment of more than ordinary skill, and which is adapted for any sized steps, and .to be conveniently folded into a compact form when not in use.

My invention consists of three principal operative parts; a square whose parts are slightly wedge-shaped and pivotally connected at their meeting ends, and are adapted for a longitudinal adjustment for different thicknesses of tread, and a straight edge to which the sections of the square are adjustably connected, and within which they are adapted to be folded and secured when not in use. i

The novel features of my invention reside in the construction and cooperative relation of the operative parts whereby absolute uniformity in laying out the rise and the run of the steps, and the wedge shaped recesses for the tread and risers are conveniently secured by means of a single instrument and by the same operation.

Similar reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings in which Figure 1 is a side view of stair stringer, broken away in part, showing my invention in use thereon, the same also being partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a detail of my invention in its folded position when not in use, being Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 18, 1907. Serial No. 362,859.

Patented July 2, 1907.

also'broken away in part to show how the pivoted sections of the square fold between the sides of the straight section.

All parts of my invention are preferably made of suitable metal.

The stringer l, of the usual form, is shown in Fig. l, as having the usual gage line 2 laid off upon the inner face thereof and adjacent to and parallel with the lower edge thereof. On the same face of this stringer are shown the relative arrangement of the lines 3 and 4 for the tread recess and the lines 5 and 6 for the riser recess, as laid out by the use of my invention.

The straight edge portion of my invention consists of two thin identical metal strips 7 and 8 rigidly secured together at their opposite ends by means of the respective interposed short plates 9, or other proper manner, whereby these plates '7 and 8 are sufficiently separated to admit the parts of the square between them. The straight edge thus constructed has a longitudinal slot 10 of proper length at its forward end in which is slidably mounted a short screw-bolt 11 provided with a proper washer 12 and thumb-nut 13 for the purpose hereafter described. The straight edge is also provided near its other end with one or more lateral perforations 14 adapted to receive and contain a screw-bolt 15 provided with a washer 16 and a thumb-nut 17, for the purpose about to be described. The body of the square is like the said straight-edge formed of two identical platens 18 of metal rigidly secured together at their ends by means of inter-.

posed strips 19, thereby so spacing these plates apart as to receive the shorter or tongue portion of the square when the same is folded. This body portion is rounded at its forward endto correspond with the shape of the nosing of the tread, and has a small lateral opening 20 for the purpose hereafter described. This body portion.

is also longitudinally wedge-shaped, uniformly tapering toward its forward and rounded end, and is of a width corresponding to the desired width of the tread receiving recess. This body portion is provided with a second lateral perforation 21 at a suitable point thereon to lay out a tread recess of more than the usual width when desired, in the manner hereafter described, and has one face thereof adjacent to its outer edge laid off in inches and fractions thereof as shown. This body portion is provided at one end with an extended longitudinal slot 22, and is provided at its other end with another extended longitudinal slot 23 having a lateral notch 24 at its inner edge and near its outer end to receive the screw 15 when the invention is in its folded condition.

The tongue portion 25 of the square consists of a single piece of metal of proper taper and width to coincide with the sides of the riser receiving recess, and has its inner end provided with oppositely arranged lateral lugs or strips 26 whose inner ends abut the adjacent end of the said body portion when the two sections of the square are secured in their operative right-angular relahaving a wing nut 29 upon one end thereof.

tion, as shown in Fig. 1. This tongue has one face at its outer edge laid off in inches and the usual fractions thereof, and its inner end provided with a curved slot 27 in which is loosely mounted an adjusting screw 28 This screw is also loosely arranged in the slot 22 of the body portion, whereby the two parts of the square have a pivotal connection, the slotted end of the tongue 25 being loosely mounted between the plates 18.

The operation and manner of employing my inven-' tion thus described is obvious and briefly stated is as follows: The operator first secures the tongue 25 in a right-angular relation which he readily does with absolute accuracy by so adjusting the tongue 25 that the forward end of the lug 26 squarely abuts the adjacent edge of the body portion after which it is secured in such position by tightening the wing-nut 29. When the tread of the steps is the usual thickness, viz; one and oneeighth inches, the tongue is rigidly secured to the body portion in the position shown in Fig. 1, or at the beginning of the first inch mark, and when the unusual thickness of one and three-eighths inches is desired he secures the tongue in a right angular position with its outer edge in alinement with the mark 30 thereon. He now sets the device to secure the desired rise and run, or the height and width of the steps as follows: Assu1n ing the usual nine inch run or width of step is desired, he sets the body portion to measure nine inches from the gage line 2 to the outer edge of the tongue, and to secure the desired rise or height of the step he sets the tongue 25 to measure the predetermined height of step from the gage line 2 on the outer edge of the tongue 25 to the outer edge of the body portion as shown in Fig. l. The operator next adjusts the straight edge firmly against the lower edge of the stringer 1, as shown, and then rigidly secures it in such relation to the said parts of the square by tightening the thumb-nuts 13 and 17, after which my invention is in condition for use as follows: He simply places the invention upon the inner face of the stringer with the inner edge of the straight edge firmly against the lower edge of the stringer, as shown in Fig. 1. When the other parts of the device are set as above described he can make no mistake in securing a uniform rise and run of the stairs so long as he places the device each time in such a position that the outer edge of the body portion coincides with the junction of the previously laid out line 5 with the gage line 2. When my invention is thus placed in position the operator readily marks off the lines 3 and i for the step and 5 and 6 for the riser by following the outline of ing 20 and marks the point for placing the screw point of the bit which cuts this portion of the recess. When a thicker step than usuar 1s desired he ad usts the tongue portion so that its outer edge is in alinement with the line 30, and he then marks the place. i or the bit by means of the hole 21. as described. It is thus obvious that by the employment of my invention the outline l or a stairs can be quickly, conveniently and accuratelylaid out, with no appreciable liability oi making a mistake.

When my invention is not in use it can readily be folded in a very compact form with its operative parts in approximate alinement as follows: The operator first loosens the screw-bolt 11 and adjusts it to the outer end of the slot 10, and then loosens thenut 29 and folds the tongue 25 into an approximately parallel relation with the body portion 18, which in "turn is adjusted into the space between the sides of the straight edge, after which the parts are all firmly held in such relation by tightening up the nuts 17 and 13.

Having thus described my invention and the man n or of employing the same what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A stair-gage consisting of a straight edge formed of two parallel plates slightly spaced apart and rigidly united at their opposite ends, the said plates being longitudinally slotted at one end thereof; a square whose parts are pivotally and adjustably united, the parts of the square being adapted for an adjustment in the said straight edge; and means for firmly securing the pivoted parts 01. the square in such adjustment.

2. A stair-gage consisting of a square whose sections are pivotally and adjustably connected; means for lirmly securing these sections in right-angular relation; a longi tudinally slotted straight-edge in which the said sections of the square are adjustably mounted, the said square sections being adapted to be folded into substantially parallel relation with themselves and with the straight-edge; and means for securing these parts in any desired adjustment.

3. In a stair-gage, the combination of a straight edge longitudinally slotted, and provided at one end thereof with a longitudinal slot arranged at right angles to the last mentioned slot; a square whose sections are taper ing and pivotally connected at their inner ends, and adapted to be folded into approximately parallel relation, and within the said straight edge; means for readily adjusting the square sections into a right angular relation; and means for securing the squaiesections in any desired adjustment relative to each other and to the straight-edge.

4. In a device of the class specified, a square formed of two sections pivotally connected at one end thereof, one of said sections being formed of two parallel plates slightly separated, and provided with a longitudinal slot near one end thereof to afford an adjustment for the other of said sections, and having a longitudinal slot near its other end; means for securing these sections in any desired adjustment; a straight-edge formed of two slightly separated plates betwcen which the said square sections are loosely mounted; and means for firmly securing the said sections in any desired adjustment in the straigl1tedge.

Signed by me at Fort Wayne, Allen county, State of Indiana, this 11th day of March, A. D. 1907.

\VILLIAM H. WIEGMANN.

Witnesses:

WA'r'rs P. DENNY, AUGUSTA VIBERG. 

